Microsoft Update folders - can I remove them?

acve got several folders in my root directory (C:\) that are leftovers from
Microsoft apdates that never got removed. They have names such as
C:\4633bc0687e6970b8e63a999ac1f7a. I have 2 questions - 1) can I remove
them? and 2) what can I do so they will be removed automatically rather than
having to go back and clean them up? Any help with this is greatly
appreciated.

Yes, you can delete them.
Most of the time these odd folders, which are used
for temporary file storage during the software install,
are deleted automatically. But some applications leave
one or more folders behind (sloppy) and that what you see
on your hard drive.


--
JS
http://www.pagestart.com


"KeithM" <> wrote in message
news:4D4A80D2-524E-4F6C-B24F-...
> acve got several folders in my root directory (C:\) that are leftovers
> from
> Microsoft apdates that never got removed. They have names such as
> C:\4633bc0687e6970b8e63a999ac1f7a. I have 2 questions - 1) can I remove
> them? and 2) what can I do so they will be removed automatically rather
> than
> having to go back and clean them up? Any help with this is greatly
> appreciated.

Thanks. Is there any way to fix it so the folders do get removed
automatically or is this something that I just have to go through
periodically and clean up?

"JS" wrote:

> Yes, you can delete them.
> Most of the time these odd folders, which are used
> for temporary file storage during the software install,
> are deleted automatically. But some applications leave
> one or more folders behind (sloppy) and that what you see
> on your hard drive.
>
>
> --
> JS
> http://www.pagestart.com
>
>
> "KeithM" <> wrote in message
> news:4D4A80D2-524E-4F6C-B24F-...
> > acve got several folders in my root directory (C:\) that are leftovers
> > from
> > Microsoft apdates that never got removed. They have names such as
> > C:\4633bc0687e6970b8e63a999ac1f7a. I have 2 questions - 1) can I remove
> > them? and 2) what can I do so they will be removed automatically rather
> > than
> > having to go back and clean them up? Any help with this is greatly
> > appreciated.
>
>
>

The Windows Update uninstall files are there for a very important
reason. If your Windows XP installation should become corrupt and a
repair install is necessary, those existing updates would have to be
uninstalled during the initial repair process. If the uninstall files
are missing, then the repair install process can not proceed and you'll
be out of luck trying to boot into Windows.


KeithM wrote:
> acve got several folders in my root directory (C:\) that are leftovers from
> Microsoft apdates that never got removed. They have names such as
> C:\4633bc0687e6970b8e63a999ac1f7a. I have 2 questions - 1) can I remove
> them? and 2) what can I do so they will be removed automatically rather than
> having to go back and clean them up? Any help with this is greatly
> appreciated.

To be clear, these are not the update folders found in c:\windows directory.
These are just random folders left behind from Microsoft updates. I would
definitely not remove the uninstall folders from Windows Update.

"Leroy" wrote:

> The Windows Update uninstall files are there for a very important
> reason. If your Windows XP installation should become corrupt and a
> repair install is necessary, those existing updates would have to be
> uninstalled during the initial repair process. If the uninstall files
> are missing, then the repair install process can not proceed and you'll
> be out of luck trying to boot into Windows.
>
>
> KeithM wrote:
> > acve got several folders in my root directory (C:\) that are leftovers from
> > Microsoft apdates that never got removed. They have names such as
> > C:\4633bc0687e6970b8e63a999ac1f7a. I have 2 questions - 1) can I remove
> > them? and 2) what can I do so they will be removed automatically rather than
> > having to go back and clean them up? Any help with this is greatly
> > appreciated.
>

Folders name with random characters appear after installing a Service
Pack or hotfix?
http://www.winxptutor.com/randomfolders.htm


KeithM wrote:
> To be clear, these are not the update folders found in c:\windows directory.
> These are just random folders left behind from Microsoft updates. I would
> definitely not remove the uninstall folders from Windows Update.
>
> "Leroy" wrote:
>
>> The Windows Update uninstall files are there for a very important
>> reason. If your Windows XP installation should become corrupt and a
>> repair install is necessary, those existing updates would have to be
>> uninstalled during the initial repair process. If the uninstall files
>> are missing, then the repair install process can not proceed and you'll
>> be out of luck trying to boot into Windows.
>>
>>
>> KeithM wrote:
>>> acve got several folders in my root directory (C:\) that are leftovers from
>>> Microsoft apdates that never got removed. They have names such as
>>> C:\4633bc0687e6970b8e63a999ac1f7a. I have 2 questions - 1) can I remove
>>> them? and 2) what can I do so they will be removed automatically rather than
>>> having to go back and clean them up? Any help with this is greatly
>>> appreciated.

Unfortunately it's a software developer's problem.
If MS or other vendor did not perform a complete
cleanup during or when the install has completed,
(sometimes you are prompted to reboot the PC
to complete the install, then these folder or folders
are deleted during the reboot, but not always as you
discovered).

These folder names are completely random and
for example if you install the same update 6 times
you will find 6 different random folders names.

So you must delete them manually.

--
JS
http://www.pagestart.com


"KeithM" <> wrote in message
news:1B5F8720-AC59-4A9D-AFF9-...
> Thanks. Is there any way to fix it so the folders do get removed
> automatically or is this something that I just have to go through
> periodically and clean up?
>
> "JS" wrote:
>
>> Yes, you can delete them.
>> Most of the time these odd folders, which are used
>> for temporary file storage during the software install,
>> are deleted automatically. But some applications leave
>> one or more folders behind (sloppy) and that what you see
>> on your hard drive.
>>
>>
>> --
>> JS
>> http://www.pagestart.com
>>
>>
>> "KeithM" <> wrote in message
>> news:4D4A80D2-524E-4F6C-B24F-...
>> > acve got several folders in my root directory (C:\) that are leftovers
>> > from
>> > Microsoft apdates that never got removed. They have names such as
>> > C:\4633bc0687e6970b8e63a999ac1f7a. I have 2 questions - 1) can I
>> > remove
>> > them? and 2) what can I do so they will be removed automatically rather
>> > than
>> > having to go back and clean them up? Any help with this is greatly
>> > appreciated.
>>
>>
>>